Staten Island's Rhino Club hoping to keep wrestling on the upswing

Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-HammelRhino Wrestling Club owner John Zecchino, standing with black shirt, poses with some of his students in front of the Intoxx Fitness Center in Richmond Valley.

RICHMOND VALLEY -- Wrestling is a sport that has grown in popularity on Staten Island in recent years and that dedication has translated to the high school scene. Many of the borough’s wrestlers and high school teams are having success throughout New York City and the state as well.

But like any sport, more practice can only make you better and that’s the goal with the owners of the newly opened Rhino Wrestling Club.

The wrestling club — which practices inside Intoxx Fitness located at 236 Richmond Valley Rd. in Richmond Valley — hopes the sport can grow even bigger and better on Staten Island.

“I know Staten Island has some really great wrestlers and wrestling programs. We’re looking to open up a wrestling school to keep the Island a more competitive atmosphere where students from cross-town schools can now meet at our school, and wrestle together every week,” said Rhino Wrestling Club owner John Zecchino.

“This is not only to improve the really great wrestlers but also the wrestlers who are in need of improvement as well,” he added.

Zecchino said he and his partner, Michael Malinconico, thought about opening the school on Staten Island and decided to attend the prestigious 26th Annual Dave Ironman Invitational at Monsignor Farrell High School to get the name out. They then talked with Farrell head coach Lou Destefano about helping spread the word about the new club.

“My partner Mike and I reached out to Lou and told him we were looking to open a wrestling school. We voluntarily asked if we could come to his practices to see if he liked what we were doing and, more importantly, if the kids liked what we were doing,” said the 32-year-old Sayreville, N.J., resident.

View full sizeSt. Joseph by-the-Sea HS students Joe Scaffidi, a 15- year-old from Annadale, jumps over Anthony Nicosia, 14 of Eltingville, during a recent practice session.

While he definitely would love to see the school’s wrestlers excel in the sport, Zecchino also knows the club can serve life lessons as well. That may sound like a pie-in-the-sky wish, but Zecchino has seen it work first-hand.

Rhino Wrestling Club has a highly successful location in Morganville, N.J., and, as the head coach at Elizabeth High School, the owner knows good things can happen.

“Our sole purpose is to educate people on the sport, but also make the kids more socially aware. Now they’ll be forced to make friends from different areas,” he said. “At the same time, we’re really keeping these kids off the street, giving them training tips, workout tips and preparing them to be good human beings as they get older.

“They’ll become better wrestlers and better socially. They will be talking to people they’ve never talked to,” he added. “It brings the wrestling community closer together.”

If you talk to any coach or wrestler, they’ll tell you wrestling is not just about the strongest person winning. There are other aspects that translate into success which are something Rhino will stress.

“We’ll be training kids with not only strength training and endurance training but also mental training which may be the key concept in winning 90 percent of your matches,” said Zecchino.

Since Rhino also has a facility in New Jersey, a hotbed for high school wrestling, Zecchino said Islanders will get the chance to compete against some of those students as well.

“Our main goal is to take New Jersey kids and bring them to Staten Island. We’ll have duals with 13 kids from New Jersey against 13 from Staten Island,” said Zecchino. “That’s what we’re looking to do. We also would like to have the Staten Island kids compete against the Jersey kids in Morganville.”

The wrestling club opened in early April, and has 23 students from different high schools, including Monsignor Farrell, St. Joseph by-the-Sea, Tottenville and Curtis.

Zecchino would love to get every high school involved and believes its recent move into its new 1,500-square foot room at Intoxx is a nice start.

The club, which teaches kids not just traditional wrestling, but also freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, has classes for eighth- through 12th-grade students on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4-6 p.m.

Zecchino also wants to establish the Little Rhinos program for kids from kindergarten through seventh-grade which can help “combat child obesity, get the kids more socially active and build confidence.”

Zecchino stressed that although there are only two days of classes, more spots will be added once enrollment increases.